Porous cordierite honeycomb articles are known to facilitate filtering of fluid to remove undesirable components. For example, porous cordierite honeycomb articles are known to filter exhaust gases from an engine before releasing the filtered exhaust gas to the atmosphere.
In order to manufacture cordierite having a high porosity, a batch composition is typically provided with a quantity of inorganic components and a significant superaddition of pore former. The inorganic components are typically provided of the type and respective quantity sufficient to form cordierite (Mg2Al4Si5O18) upon firing. Providing a relatively high superaddition of pore former in the batch composition is known to increase porosity of the cordierite honeycomb article upon firing. Indeed, during the firing process, the superaddition of pore former is initially burned off to leave behind pores within the body. Further firing causes the inorganic components to react and sinter to form a porous cordierite honeycomb article.
The significant superaddition of pore former is effective to increase the porosity of the cordierite honeycomb article. However, large amounts of pore former can increase costs and processing difficulties that lead to low selects. For example, large amounts of pore former results in a high level of organics that must burn out during the firing process. The burn out of the relatively high superaddition of pore former can result in increased heat and temperature differentials that may cause cracking of the article. Large amounts of pore former can also cause undesirable shrinkage during the firing process.